TV shows and movies

Every once in a while I come across a movie or TV series that catches my attention and won't let go. By this I mean, and through the years, shows like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch, Three's Company, Happy Days, MASH, Friends, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Two and a Half Men, and my current fixation: The Big Bang Theory. Movies that have captured my attention were Dances With Wolves, Sister Act, Forrest Gump, That Thing You Do, Apollo 13, and my current fixation: Easy A.

Let's break it down:

As far as the TV shows go, let's start from the beginning with those lovable 60s shows Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. Having grown up a child of the 60s I watched the original airings, not reruns. These two shows were based on fantasy: Bewitched was about a pretty, blonde witch married to an advertising exec who just wanted to fit in and live her dull and boring life in Suburbia. Obviously things never quite worked out that way, especially when her family got involved, and by family I mean her mother, Endorra, who made life difficult for her husband, Darren, who she always called Durwood.

The premise behind I Dream of Jeannie was about a Mercury astronaut who splashes back down to earth slightly off course and his capsule ends up washed ashore on an uninhabited island where he stumbles upon a magic lamp with, guess what, a pretty blonde genie as its occupant (you've probably picked up my attraction to blondes by now).

Then came The Brady Bunch, loosely based on the movie Yours, Mine and Ours, with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball - about a recent widower and his three young sons, and a recently widowed young woman and her three young daughters. We all had our favorite characters we cheered on. Everybody had a thing for Marcia, the eldest daughter, or Cindy, the baby, probably because of her pigtails. I had a thing for Jan, the often-ignored middle daughter. I thought she was prettier, and certainly smarter than Marcia. But that's just me. The show went downhill once the kids were all grown up and they introduced "Cousin Oliver," a concept I'll come back to in a little bit.

Three's Company, Happy Days and MASH were all bunched together in the 70s. I liked them all. However, I only acknowledge the first three seasons of MASH, what I refer to as "the Henry Blake era." After Henry Blake/McLean Stevenson left, Alan Alda pretty much took over and the show became "preachy." I still watched it religiously up to the very end, hoping it would get funny again. It never did - just made you think. You can see a trend here; respectively they all went downhill after Suzanne Sommers left, Ron Howard started losing his hair and started looking like, oddly enough, Ron Howard; and I've already given my analysis of MASH.

The 80s had some good shows, too: Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Married With Children. A common thread they shared was their introduction of "Cousin Oliver" towards the end of their cycle. As the kids grew older, ratings dropped and the producers introduced a young member to the household. Which pretty much led to their demise. Thus, what I call the "Cousin Oliver" concept.

A clean, and breath-of-fresh-air came during the 90s in Friends, about three guys and three gals who share a tightly-knit bond while living and working in New York City. The second season defined the show: Ross and Rachel were together (finally!); Monica was dating the (much older) optometrist, Dr. Burke; Joey was "Dr. Drake Remoray," Chandler was a successful executive with his own office in a high-rise; and Phoebe was, well, Phoebe. I've always wondered how she could earn a living as a masseuse during the day, and part-time singer at night at the coffeehouse, Central Perk, where they all hung out. She lived alone in a nice apartment. The show went downhill after Ross and Rachel's breakup and the other characters took on different jobs and/or relationships. I enjoyed Friends. I didn’t think it could ever be equaled again until the 2000s with How I Met Your Mother.

The dynamics of How I Met Your Mother were different/similar to Friends: three guys and two gals: Lily and Marshall are married to each other, Ted is an architect and love-sick guy, Robin is Canadian (need we say more?) and Barney, the incorrigible fifth-wheel. They all live in New York City but instead of hanging out at a coffeehouse they hang out at a bar, MacLaren's. I watch the show occasionally, preferring the reruns on late-night TV as opposed to the prime-time showings. It’s still an evolving show and so far I like it.

Looking back I've noticed I've rambled on quite a bit. I'll finish the TV segment with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory another time, with some assorted shows tossed in, and then we'll tackle the movies after that. Gives me an excuse to write about something. Until then.

Say what?

I'm always amazed at the resiliency of the English language, nay - its adaptability. Throughout generations, while speaking the same English language as a foundation, American society has molded and shaped it to conform to ever-changing social mores. Take World War I for instance (amazing how we put numerals after our global conflicts, like the Super Bowl or something - but that's another story). Soldiers coming back from the front were afflicted with "Shell Shock." I think that's pretty self-explanatory: being subjected to constant bombardment and the fear of losing one's life would certainly "shock" the life out of any human being. Then during World War II it evolved to "Battle Fatigue." Okay, it still makes sense: being subjected to constant bombardment and the fear of losing one's life would certainly cause fatigue and scare the life out of any human being. Fast forward to the Vietnam War - suddenly it was PTDSS, or "Post Traumatic Delayed Stress Syndrome." Sounds more like an illness or a disease, not a condition brought on by shells bursting and the likelihood of losing one's life.

Let's leave the war behind us and move on to the curious evolution of the English language. Maybe at this point I should refer to is as "vernacular." Back in the 60s everything was "cool" or "A-OK" (a reference to the emerging space program), or "dig it" (as in "I dig your shoes, man"), which was usually followed by "far out."

The 70s brought us slick disco and the base debauchery of Studio 54, "rock on," the "hustle" and "astro turf"." "Far out" was still being used and so was "cool."

Which brings us to the 80s. All that hair, metal bands, a conglomeration of "music videos," "new wave," and "punk rock" dictated how our music was played and enjoyed. "Smurf" was something small and blue, the "valley girls" brought us "gag me with a spoon," "spazz" and "like totally," while Reagan introduced us to "political correctness."

The 90s was somewhat "grungy," music was a little more "edgy," more "funk," disco was making a comeback but was (and still is) known as "clubbing."

The 21st century is upon us. It's fun watching the language evolve. It's brought us "desktop," "laptop" (computers, not tables or the place where the family cat likes to lay down on), "wireless" and "networking" (which is nothing more than human interaction). I'm still trying to digest "emo" and "trope." But by far my favorite so far is: "There's an app for that."

Like, totally...

Bomber's Rugby Football Club

We see them everyday on our travels; an adopt-a-mile cleanup sign erected along our country's roads and highways, emblazoned with a local organization's name, usually the local Girl or Boy Scouts, the electrician's union, Phi Beta Kappa, maybe even the Knights of Columbus - pledging to clean up the next mile or so of roadway. Over where we live there's one of these not-at-all-uncommon signs. However, the sponsor's name was certainly eye-catching: "Bomber's Rugby Football Club."

Being a fan of military aircraft, I immediately conjured scenes of brave men wearing their scuffed-up leather jackets with thick wool collars headed towards their bombers, tonight's target: "Top Secret!" My imagery was reminiscent of that scene from "The Right Stuff" where the seven Mercury astronauts walk down that long hallway, purposely and in slow motion.

The rest of that phrase still held a bit of a mystery: "Rugby Football Club." The words "rugby" and "football" in the same sentence gave it away. I Googled it. It turns out that here in St. Louis there is a rugby club called St. Louis Bombers Rugby Football Club:

"The Bombers were a result of a merger between “The Old Blacks” and the “Sisler-Hummel” rugby clubs, two of the most powerful and successful clubs in St. Louis during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Coached and captained by Frank Hauff from 1962-1965, the Bombers immediately took control of St. Louis rugby, winning the Missouri Rugby Union Championship in their first two years and five out of their first six. From 1964 to 1965 the Bombers were undefeated and shut out all league opponents."
- (http://stlouisbombers.insiteadvice.org/about-the-bombers/club-history/)

Knowing that fact took the mystique away from that road sign. Nevertheless, every time I drive by and see the sign I still see those brave lads in their bulky suits and leather jackets, patting the pinup nose art on the side of their aircraft for good luck as they clambered into their bombers to fight the evil Nazis…

Hey, it's my story. I think mine has more allure.